urgent help elderly beardy breathing problem

[libran1962]

plz can anyone help, we are so worried. my son has a 7 yr old male beardie called razi, he is much loved and well looked after. he has had peridontal disease for 2 yrs kept at bay with antibiotics/ antifungals.last friday he started to gasp and looked ill, his breathing was fast and laboured. we rushed him to the vets who kept him overnight on oxygen and let him home.at home he was gasping and agitated so we rushed him back and he was given a shot of steroids and started on antibiotics again. in a nutshell he was kept 4 more days but when we picked him up last night having been told he seemed fine i was shocked that his eyes seemed dull and sunken, he has lost 60 g, his colour is poor and breathing not right, he is so agitated running up and down panicking then laying totally flat. we rushed him
back yet again and he is continuing on antibiotics and has had an xray which shows white spots on lungs which maynor not be pneumonis,an enlarged gallbladder but the vet says this can be caused by not eating enough and blood test shows signs of infection with another due back hopefully tomorrow. the vets hav said he seems ok, running about but this is abnormal as he has always been a chilled dragon and doesnt run about as normal. he also is thin and looks very ill. we have no def prognosis and we dont know what to do next, we just want him
better. has anyone any idea on what it could be? the head vet seems elusive and the other is russian and we struggle to understand him. should we stress him and try elsewhere before he worsens more.he is elderly and im worried that hes not well enough to catch the locusts etc plus he devoured some waxworms in the half hr he was back with us last night.an abscess maybe in trachea has also been mntioned but apparently its difficult to def confirm. all i know is that each time we see him he has gone downhill with no real answers after 6 days at vets, hes not even on oxygen. we are heartbroken, any help or advice would be welcomed. kind wishes

 

[CooperDragon]

It sounds like your buddy is in rough shape, I'm sorry to hear about this. Do you live near a university that has a veterinary school? They often have advanced equipment, procedures, and experience that may help. Your current vet may also be able to consult with a research facility and share ideas/data with them to try and help. I would try to keep his tank temperatures up a little bit (especially at night) to help his immune system deal with the stress. The weight loss concerns me but the appetite is encouraging. Have you been giving him probiotics such as Acidophiliz+ while he is on antibiotic medication? The antibiotics can eliminate the good bacteria in his gut and make him more susceptible to sickness.

 

[libran1962]

thank you so much for taking the time to reply, i wrote a long reply back but errors came up and then it all disappeared il reply a little later if thats ok kindest wishes suzanne

 

[libran1962]

the vet is hopefully phoning today, if not im going to insist on a consultation, i cant understand the russian vet however good he is or isnt.iv asked them to make sure he has food he doesnt hav to catch as he hasnt the strength or sight to do it. our fingers are crossed for our much loved lad x

 

[CooperDragon]

Good luck! Let me know how it goes. I'm thinking good thoughts for you and Razi.

 

[libran1962]

thank you
iv just spoken to nurse as vet too busy again.they waiting for lab results to see if that helps , in meantime iv managed to locate a trusted reptile vet that we really trusted and left this practice but he nowbworks at another local practice, remarkably the same one i phoned in desperation, he is phoning me in half an hour, im so hoping he mite have some advice
kindest wishes
suzanne

 

[Drache613]

Hello Suzanne,

How is your dragon today?
I am sorry he isn't doing well. Were you able to speak to the vet I hope?
What were the name of the antibiotics he was given & the dose?
If they thought he had pneumonia, I would highly recommend using a nebulizer for treating the pneumonia.
I hope that he is feeling better soon.
Keep us posted on Razi.

Tracie

 

[libran1962]

hi tracie
thank you for your kindness. razi is still in the vets but i went in to visit last night and insisted on seeing him and speaking in person to the vet, who by the way is italian and i understood him a little better in person and he seemed kind.he brought razi down and put him on counter and after he'd got over the disorientation Razi wandered slowly over to me and promptly fell asleep cradled in my arms. i swear i would do anything to get that little fella better.we talked about the blood results, my partner took a photo of the screen, il forward them from his phone to u asap.it did say that infection is showing and that the toxic markers may be suggestive of septicaemia.razi has is and has been on ciproxin for around 2 yrs due to chronic infection in his mouth which spread to his jaw. he was taken off this around 5/6 wks ago by the vet after an antifungal seemed to help somewhat. my son(alex Razi's owner) and i both believe that being taken off the ciproxin( they tried several others but this was the one that worked the best for the peridontal disease)had led to it taking hold again and tracking to his respiratory system and now worse still possibly his blood stream. i looked at the xrays and the vet say theyr difficult to read but lungs and heart show white spots and some possible inflammation. Razi has lost 60 g whilst in vets but its prob bcos of not having energy to chase food, they are coaxing him to feed now. the bump on his jaw is much bigger but he seemed fairly settlef and i was so glad to see him.today the vet is going to scan again and tonight we are going up to speak re wat he finds if he gets a better picture. also we are going to take Razi home for sun/ mon as vets is shut and will only hav a nurse going in morning and night to check the animals, ( they dont hav any staff everyday overnight which surprised us)we can give the oral antibiotics/ antifungals to Razi plus we can try to feed him up, will get a critical care formula too.iv made an emergency appointment with Razis old vet for tues 9.20, for a second opinion,( we havnt told the current vets yet and need to get Razis current results etc faxed) he mentioned a nebuliser on the phone.we just need our little friend to try pull through from this and will do everything we can to help him. any advice gratefully received, will try to keep the forum informed, kindest wishes suzanne

 

[Drache613]

Hello Suzanne,

I am so sorry Razi has had that many problems! What caused the mouth & gum issues initially, do you know?
Which antifungal med is he on? Has he had fungal problems in his mouth, aspergillus possibly?
I do think that nebulization would help a lot for possible pneumonia. That is great they mentioned the treatment, I think that would help greatly.
Do you use critical care powdered formula for him or can he eat solid foods most of the time? Can he eat other soft worms, other than wax worms also?
Can you get hold of some colloidal silver to help with immune system, or some bee pollen to help out also?

Can you run over his tank set up such as his UVB lighting, temperatures, etc with us?
I am looking forward to seeing the blood test results also. Thanks.

Tracie

 

[libran1962]

plz could u advise how to put a photo on? kindest regards suzanne

 

[libran1962]

hello
just to say we picked Razi up from vets this afternoon, he is tucked up in his vivarium, it is so nice to have him home. he is to continue on ciproxin and anti fungal med,we got some critical care formula to give alongside his fave worms to try build his weight up. we know he isnt well, we are seeing trusted vet tues for second opinion.tracie the blood results are on a photo and im going to ask my son how to put them
on site without writing them all out.the viv is set at around 40 and alex has the bulbs and heat lamps set to optimum levels for him.anyway we will know more about how he is wen he is awake tomorrow, he went straight to sleep tonight when we picked him up. my mam says sleep is gods medicine.kind wishes suzanne

 

[Drache613]

Hello Suzanne,

Sure, you can upload pictures to photobucket.com then download them using the IMG/URL & do the copy/paste onto the site.
I am sory that Razi is not well. I hope that the critical care helps out for him, along with his worms. I know it must be wonderful to have him home.
I hope that he sleeps well & soundly, too.
Keep us posted on him, I hope he is feeling better soon.

Tracie

 

[libran1962]

hello tracie
iv downloaded photobucket and uploaded photo of bloodtest but im struggling with the next bit sorry. thought ud like to know that Razie slept all night and was bit agitated wen he woke but alex got him out and he slept on alexs chest for a couple hours. he had bath and meds and lots of waxworms and seems quite settled, tho we know he isnt well still.his mouth has quite a lot of sticky saliva in too.our app is 9.20 am on tues for 2 nd opinion but in meantime plan is to try keep him comfy and stable
will keep u informed
kind wishes
s

 

[libran1962]

 

[libran1962]